Western Washington University alums Peter Hallson, who grew up in Blaine, and his wife, Judith, have pledged to donate $10.5 million to fund scholarships, research and the first endowed deanship at the university.
A majority of the funds, $8 million, will be used to create the Peter & Judith Hallson Endowed Deanship in the College of Science & Engineering.
The remaining funds will be used to found the Hallson Endowed Scholarship for Blaine High School graduates, Hallson Endowed Fund for Excellence in the College of the Environment and Hallson Endowed Research Fund in Biology. Some funds will also go toward an endowed professorship for the Salish Sea Institute.
“We are truly grateful to Peter and Judith Hallson for this remarkable generosity, a gift that creates the first endowed deanship at Western,” Western President Sabah Randhawa said in a news release from the university. “This investment will strengthen the capacity of our College of Science and Engineering to educate future generations of students and advance research and innovation. Thank you, Peter and Judith, for believing in the mission of Western and in the excellence of our faculty and talent of our students.”
Peter Hallson graduated from Western in 1958 and built a career in the water treatment industry after three years of service in the Marine Corps. He went on to become the division president of Nalco Water before retiring.
He grew up in Blaine, and said it was there where his mother instilled in him the importance of charity and kindness to one’s community.
“Charity-wise I was given a lot and helped a lot and probably would not have been successful without the support of lots of people,” he said in the news release. “In fact, several professors became like parents to me.”
According to the university, the Hallsons have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Western in the past few decades.
“I made important friendships, and people would let me know when they needed something and I would help,” Peter Hallson said in the news release. “The important thing to me is that people are being helped.”
